Leaf Peeping

It’s October, and here in the Mid-Atlantic region of the US East Coast we’re in the heart of Leaf-Peeping season again.  A trip into town on a sunny Sunday for a bottle of milk can take twice as long as usual, but I don’t mind.  I am one with … and have been one of … the hoards of Sunday-drivers leaf-peeping in order to view one of Mother Nature’s most spectacular, most elusive and most brief gifts … a sunny autumn day.

Taking such a drive ourselves, actually a favorite past-time in my leaf-peeping family since I can remember, my husband and I found ourselves in the quaint town of Berryville, Virginia last year, October of 2014. As our car wound slowly down the streets, we happened to pass this charming spot. Camera ready in my lap as usual, I quickly lowered the window and snapped.

The opposite of the way I captured “A Golden Day” above, which was done with deliberation and conscious setting of camera doo-dads, what resulted here was a very badly exposed, very tilty image.  Somehow, though, the innately inviting scene called to me (they frequently do that, the noisy things), so I decided to see what I could do with it. The resulting old-timey tones, the sparkles and a few other things are not representative of what was seen by my eyes, but they certainly do represent that world of “what could be” that some of us like to inhabit.

The beauty of a day can take many forms.  From Mother Nature outdoing herself in brilliant shades of gold and crimson … to a quiet and nostalgic street-side scene … each calls to a different part of us.  Energizing or soothing … or both at once.  What fun!

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As always, a click on the images will bring you to my website where they can be viewed at a much nicer resolution and a much more reasonable watermark.  Would love to hear about one of your favorite autumn memories in the comments section below … what’s it like in your part of the world?